The rest of September

The boys get along great. Well most of the time. Joshua recently pushed Noah over while they were playing so I told him he needed to apologize to his brother. Joshua said "I sorry you in my way, Noah." That's sortof an apology, right? Then they had some fun in the tub. They both really like bath time and don't mind mommy and daddy pouring water over their heads. One of my favorite things to do is spike Joshua's hair. As a bonus I got to spike Noah's hair for the first time. That's right - there's photographic evidence that he has enough hair to spike!

Afterwards Joshua and Daddy went for a walk down the street, something that's become part of their bedtime routine, so they can talk about how they're going to go to the moon. There's talk of rocket shoes, jet packs, etc. It's fun father-son time. Of course I get some sweet time with my Joshua as well. On the way to school I commented on how pretty the sunrise was and Joshua said "God make a great day." Then he told me "Mommy, I love you so so so so much, all the way from the sky to the ground." Doesn't that just melt your heart?

Noah has recently become a good hugger. I think it's part stranger anxiety/ clinginess to mommy, but he loves to snuggle in close these days. I just love it. Of course he's not above a little mischief, especially with his go go gadget arms! I found this guilty boy right before we left for school/ work.

And the Winner is...

Noah's Winning Photo

I recently participated in a photo contest at work. The Gulf Power safety department has the "101 Days of Summer" campaign which highlights safe work and home activities. To encourage participation they asked employees to submit photos of their families playing safely during the summer. I submitted two photos - one of each boy because naturally I couldn't get a good picture of both boys looking at the camera at the same time. Anyway when I submitted my photos it never occurred to me that later when it was time to vote I'd have to choose between them. I call it poor planning - not poor parenting! So when it was time to vote I decided our best chance at winning was to block vote and I asked everyone to vote for Noah (who is being held by Jerry Pop). Matt and I were accused of favoritism as we shamelessly campaigned for our sweet Noah.

Joshua's equally as cute photo

In the end it worked out as our sweet boy won by a landslide and was awarded (drum roll please)... a Target Zero blanket. He even had his picture made with his prize for an article. The article hasn't come out yet but I'll update the blog when it does. In the meantime here are a couple pictures that my coworker Dewey took of Noah hanging out at work.

Football, Family, and Tiny Tim

Joshua has really gotten into cheering for Alabama football. He'll keep asking if it's time to "get my game face on." He also likes to cheer "Go Bama!" and "Come on Bama" during the game. Noah is still easily startled by the sudden cheering making naps an alternative to watching the game. They both are good sports about posing in their jerseys. Though there was an "incident" regarding the jerseys. I bought Joshua's jersey on sale during last season - it's Mark Ingram's #22. Noah exceeded my expectations and outgrew the jersey Joshua wore when he was Noah's age so I bought him a new jersey - Trent Richardson's #3. Joshua could not understand why Joshua, who is 3 years old has to wear a #2 while Noah, who is 1 gets to wear a #3. "It's not right! I'm free, not brother!" Hopefully we won't have to discuss this every week.

Go long!

Noah's "game face"

Grandma and Grandpa recently came for a visit. It was fun to hang out with them. Joshua was itching for some company. A few days before they came we had the following conversation.
Joshua: How's about we go to school, have a good day, and then go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Mommy: That's sweet, but...
Joshua interrupted: No Mommy. I say we go to school, have a good day, AND THEN go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Mommy: Tell you what, we'll go to school, have a good day, and then call them on the phone...
Joshua interrupted again: so we can tell them "We coming! We coming!" and Grandpa will take me fishing.
Mommy: We'll see...

Noah really loves Joshua's golf clubs. He loves to walk through the house holding them like crutches, which reminds me of Tiny Tim. He's so unstable hobbling around the house and falling down. It does make us laugh though.

"God bless us, everyone!" Tiny Tim aka Noah

Birthday Portraits

I recently took the boys for their birthday portraits with our family photographer. There is a link to all the pictures on the right side of the webpage under the heading "Hartman Photography." Here is a copy of the ones that were our favorites. Enjoy these pics of our handsome fellas!

Joshua quotes and a joke

September is rolling along. I can't believe I have two toddlers. We've had to get Noah a new car seat. It's actually the same type as Joshua's, Britax Boulevard, but we've got it facing backwards. Joshua's good about giving me updates on his baby brother as we are driving in the car. Joshua actually has a lot of opinions about everything, whether he's shouting "I dit it! I did it! I used the potty!" while out in public or roaring like a ogre-dino-lion, etc., he has a lot to say. I'll share a few of his quotes.

Advice from a 3 year old: "A snake is not a good friend.  And neither is a lion or a hippo."

When Noah is fussing in the car: "Don't be afraid Noah. There's no monsters."

Conversation when I stopped at the gas station:
Joshua: Why are we stopping?
Mommy: The car needs gas.
Joshua: Grandpa has lots of gas.

Joshua was being very "busy" while we were out at dinner.
Daddy:  Joshua sit down!
Joshua: But Daddy, I a superhero...

While talking to Daddy on an evening walk...
"When we get superpowers we can fly to the moon. Then we can share the moon with mommy."

Joshua's first made up joke (that actually is funny). Chick-Fil-A was the inspiration:
Joshua: Mommy, I'm gonna wake up a cow.
Mommy: How are you going to do that?
Joshua: I'm going to scare him.
Mommy: How do you scare a cow?
Joshua: Um, you say Moo Boo!

I should add that Noah's a funny guy too, I just don't know how to translate his jokes. In the meantime I'll enjoy playing peek-a-boo with him and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to him.

Check ups and Gross outs

Yesterday I took the Joshua and Noah for their 3 year and 1 year check ups, respectively. First the stats, then the stories.
Joshua
height - 37", 35th %
weight - 30lbs, 35th %
Noah
height - 30.5", 70th %
weight - 22lbs 4oz, 40th %

Both boys are growing and growing. Joshua recently has shown an interest in saying "look at my muscles" and flexing which is made funnier by the fact you can count all his ribs when he does this.  The only time we got him to stand still long enough to get his height measured in the dr's office was when he was showing off his muscles to the nurse. He really likes his pediatrician and was chatty talking about everything from the characters on Cars to telling him "I have crazy hair." (When he wakes up in the morning we like to tell him he has 'crazy hair.')

Look at my muscles!

 Noah got 5 shots and Joshua got 1. My boys once again proved to be opposite. I assumed Noah would recover quickly and Joshua would be upset about the shot, but actually Noah cried and wailed and didn't settle down even after I picked him up whereas Joshua didn't even cry. Joshua left with 2 stickers, a sucker, and a "prize" from the toy box. Afterwards we ate lunch at a local pizzeria and headed home.

First Bama game of the 2011 season

At some point after we got home, Noah looked like he was chewing on something and gagging on it, but I didn't see anything at first. And then I reached in his mouth and realized he had pulled off one of his band-aids and was chewing on it. I was totally grossed out. I was about to text Matt and tell him how gross his son was when I realized Joshua was a little too quiet. I went looking for him and found him in the bathroom where he had pulled off his band-aid and was "washing" it in the toilet so he could keep in forever and ever. Eww! I'm not sure which is grosser, the chewing or the washing, but either way it was appalling. What am I going to do with these boys?

Okay here's one last story that I should have mentioned in my Noah birthday summary. Something Noah has always done is get really excited about eating. As soon as he sees a bottle he starts giggling and pumping his legs. It's absolutely adorable. He just radiates happiness. He's such a sweet boy!